Basketball fans from out of town said they certainly felt welcome in the Hoosier state when they descended on Indianapolis — wearing their team’s colors — for the NCAA men’s Final Four basketball tournament Saturday.
“I love this city,” said returning Indianapolis visitor and varsity band member for the University of Wisconsin Nick Spoerk. “Hospitality is great,” he added. He especially liked that a street near the hotel where the students were staying was renamed, “Badger Way,” a reference to the team.
The streets — and lawns — of downtown Indianapolis were filled with fans from neighboring Wisconsin, Michigan, Kentucky and a farther east coast state, North Carolina, to cheer on their college teams competing in the games. North Carolina-based Duke University faced Michigan State at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night, a game that was followed by a face-off between the University of Kentucky and University of Wisconsin.
But UK and Wisconsin were not only rivals on the court this weekend. The UK blue and Wisconsin red also vied for the highest fan turnout in Indianapolis for the Final Four. It was not hard to find fans wearing blue and red, but there were also plenty of fans wearing green Michigan shirts and Duke blue and white. There was also the occasional Indiana University shirt, orange University of Tennessee, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish shirt.
Wearing red sweatshirts with the initial “W,” Spoerk and two other Wisconsin varsity band members spent some time on the lawn near the Indiana Convention Center, hours before the games, throwing a Frisbee. “We’re passing some time until we have to get on the bus” for a pep rally and other activities, Spoerk said.
“We’re enjoying the warm weather for once,” added fellow student, Garrett Wolff, referring to the well-known bitter cold Wisconsin winters.
The trio — who flew in with the team Wednesday — said their experience in the city has been positive. They felt “no negative sentiments” about the city, despite the recent controversy surrounding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the students said. The only hint of the RFRA issues were the positive signs around the city indicating that the area welcomes and serves all.
“Indy seems to be pretty well set up for hosting big events like this,” said Shawn Laursen, a Wisconsin student. As expected, the students were hoping for a win.
‘People come here because we’re nice’
Fans of all ages certainly made a mark on Indy this weekend. Tami Cornelius, an event management student at Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis and volunteer of the Final Four Fanfest at the Convention, said 22,000 people were expected Saturday to participate in Final Four activities. About 18,000 attended on Friday. Many people showed their support for Indiana, she said.
“We’ve been told how amazing our hospitality is,” she said.
Two local residents, Anne Carroll and Nathan Weaver, embodied Hoosier hospitality as they got on their bikes, donned colorful accessories and gave free hugs to people during a stop at Monument Circle at the heart of the city. They were part of a group of people, mostly in the service industry, who wanted to make the fans feel welcome in the city.
Many people took them up on the free hugs offer.
“Today, were just promoting love,” Carroll said. They were also promoting a Facebook page, “We never serve hate,” and an upcoming gathering for the grassroots effort to prevent boycotts against Indiana and its businesses, which is a “backlash from the Senate Bill 101” or the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, according to the page.
Setting aside politics, Carroll said this was about the small businesses that will be affected if people actually boycott Indiana. They wanted to provide a positive experience for the visitors this weekend.
“We don’t have beaches, we don’t have mountains. People come here because we’re nice,” Carroll said.